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diff --git a/29969.txt b/29969.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0ce15e --- /dev/null +++ b/29969.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2163 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Celtic Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 3, January +1876, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Celtic Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 3, January 1876 + A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Literature, History, + Antiquities, Folk Lore, Traditions, and the Social and + Material Interests of the Celt at Home and Abroad + +Author: Various + +Editor: Alexander Mackenzie + Alexander Macgregor + Alexander Macbain + +Release Date: September 12, 2009 [EBook #29969] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CELTIC MAGAZINE, JANUARY 1876 *** + + + + +Produced by Tamise Totterdell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +THE CELTIC MAGAZINE. + +No. III. JANUARY 1876. + + +THE STATE OF THE OSSIANIC CONTROVERSY. + +[CONTINUED.] + + +MR ARNOLD in that handsome, but slightly ambiguous admission of his, +that the Celts in their intellectual capacity come very near the secret +of nature and of natural magic, does not seem to imply more in reality +than that they have a subtler sense of certain natural affinities than +their Anglo-Saxon brethren have; that they apprehend more surely when, +where, and how the truest impress of physical nature occurs on the +percipient faculties of the soul, than men of a more phlegmatic +constitution do; and that they can draw from such intuitions of their +own a sort of inspiration, or second-sight of nature, comparable to +prophecy, which gives their highest poetic utterance a rapt +enthusiasm--and the accuracy of this estimate need not be disputed, but, +so far as Ossian is concerned, it must be considerably extended. To read +Ossian as we do, from the text of Macpherson, there was another sort of +insight, purely scientific, into the mysteries of nature, inherited and +expressed by him; a certain acquaintance with her hidden powers, and a +certain augury of her possible future development, if men could only +attain to it, far beyond the mere rapt enthusiasm of a poet, or the +so-called second-sight of a seer. Whether this peculiar faith of his was +derived by tradition, and if so, from whom; or whether it was the result +of practical experiment in his own generation, is foreign for the moment +to our present inquiry. But that it was relied upon as an endowment of +the most gifted heroes; that it was exercised by them in extremity, as +if to subdue nature from whom they had borrowed it, and to wrest the +very power of destruction out of her hand; and that such practical +conquest was sometimes achieved by them, or is said to have been +achieved by them, is just as certain as that Macpherson's translation is +before us now. What we refer to more especially for the present, is the +secret of extracting or discharging electricity from the atmosphere by +mechanical means--by the thrust of a spear, or of a sword, into the +bosom of the low-hanging cloud, or lurid vapour, and so dislodging the +imaginary spirit of evil by which they were supposed to be tenanted. +Only the very best, and bravest, and wisest could prevail in such +conflict with nature; but they did prevail, according to Ossian; and the +weapons of their warfare, and the mode of their assault, were precisely +similar to what an experimentalist in electricity might employ at the +present day, or to what the Egyptians employed in the days of Moses. We +shall not now go further back in the prosecution of this inquiry, but +would seriously recommend the reader who has any difficulty on the +subject to compare, at his leisure, the work of Moses on the top of +Mount Sinai and elsewhere, with an Egyptian "rod" in his hand, and the +exploits of Fingal in conflict with the Spirit of Loda on the heights of +Hoy, with a sword in his hand. There might have been a far-derived and +long traditional secret connection between the two, most edifying, or at +least most curious, to investigate; or they might both have resulted +from that sort of intuition which only the most gifted of any nation +enjoy independently, re-appearing again in Franklin, and now +familiarised to the world. Let those who doubt, or who differ on this +point, satisfy themselves. What we are now concerned to maintain and +prove is, that the fact is more than once described by Ossian, in +circumstances, in situations, and with instrumentalities, which render +the allegation of it at least indubitable. In the case above referred +to, for example, Fingal, challenged and assaulted in a thunderstorm by +the Spirit of Loda, encounters his antagonist with a sword, on the very +verge of a cliff overhanging the Atlantic; and by one or two scientific +thrusts, with incredible daring, disarms the cloud, dissipates the +storm, and sends his atmospheric adversary shrieking down the wind with +such violence that "Innistore shook at the sound; the waves heard it on +the deep, and stopped on their course with fear." The scene is described +in that well-known passage in _Carric-Thura_, which Macpherson himself +characterises as "the most extravagant fiction in all Ossian's poems." + +Now the question as regards the authenticity or reliability of this very +passage, is whether Macpherson understood the meaning of it; what it +represented, where the conflict occurred, or how it happened? It has +been sufficiently demonstrated elsewhere--in "Ossian and the Clyde," pp. +311-324--that the encounter took place near the celebrated "Dwarfie +Stone" on the western headland of Hoy in the Orkneys--a region more +remarkable for its sudden electric gatherings and violent atmospheric +currents than almost any other in Great Britain, and at that particular +spot so much so, that the very scene described in Ossian has been +selected by Walter Scott for a similar electrical display in the +"Pirate." But of this obvious fact, and of all that is connected with it +in his own translation, Macpherson is so ignorant that he not only does +not point it out, but does not understand it, and cannot even conjecture +where it was. His great antagonist Laing is equally at fault on the +subject, and by way of exposing, as he believes, the dishonesty of +Macpherson, endeavours to show that in patching up his account +Macpherson had mistaken Thurso for Thura. Macpherson, in fact, knew +nothing either about Thurso or Thura--even less than Laing did; and it +is only in the work above cited that either the scene has been +identified, or the encounter explained. + +Here, then, is a question, not of linguistic criticism, but of +scientific fact--of geographical position, of atmospheric agency--which +should be disposed of on its own merits, and which, like many others of +the same sort, must ultimately transfer the whole inquiry to a much +higher field than that of syllables and syntax. + +But the description in question, it may be objected, is very much +exaggerated, and therefore cannot be relied on: which is the very +objection Macpherson himself urged--that it is "the most extravagant +fiction in all Ossian's poems." But if that was the case in his opinion, +how could the passage be his own? It was easy enough either to remedy or +explain it, if he could explain it, or not to introduce it. On the other +hand, when rightly understood, there is no undue exaggeration in the +account at all--not more than might be reasonably expected from a poet +of the highest sensibility and the most vivid imagination in describing +an incomprehensible natural phenomenon; not more, for example, than in +"the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words" on Mount Sinai. Still it +is not the question of descriptive exaggeration, but of scientific fact, +that is now before us; and if the whole of the so-called conflict of +Fingal with the Prince of the Power of the Air on Roraheid in Hoy was so +utterly inexplicable to Macpherson, both as to place and character, that +he speaks of it hopelessly as a story "concerning ghosts," on what +principle of critical consistency, or of common sense, can he be said to +have been the author of it? If the Septuagint translators, for example, +had added a note of their own on the giving of the Law at Sinai, to the +effect that it appeared "the most extravagant fiction" to them, at the +same time transferring, in defiance of their own text, the entire scene +from one end of the Red Sea to the other, would any reader in his senses +accuse the Seventy of having fabricated not only the two chapters in +question, but the whole Book of Exodus--even although the original had +been now lost? Their very simplicity and ignorance would have acquitted +them. Yet Macpherson, in similar circumstances, is to be held guilty, +although he could have more easily cleared himself by altering or +omitting the whole passage, than a man in London could prove by an +_alibi_ that he had been guilty of no forgery at Inverness or Edinburgh +six hours before! But if this hitherto incomprehensible passage in +Ossian be genuine then the entire poem of _Carric-Thura_, which is +identified with it in every word and syllable from beginning to end, +must be genuine also. + +In the same sort of field, but without the addition of supernatural +agency, we have another scene of scientific import in the _War of +Inisthona_. Inisthona, according to Macpherson, was on the coast of +Norway--he did not know where; Inisthona, according to Laing, was a +wilful corruption of Inis-owen in Lough Foyle; Inisthona, in point of +fact, was Iceland--as clearly and distinctly so in Macpherson's own +text, as latitude, longitude, and physical configuration can make it; +far more distinctly recognisable than any _Ultima Thule_ of the Romans. +But here, in this Inisthona, we have first a fountain surrounded with +mossy stones, in a grassy vale, at the head of a bay; then a wilderness +of half a day's journey inland; then a lake at the end of the wilderness, +exhaling pestilential vapours, called Lake Lano--but no volcano visible +as yet: and in Iceland we have still the basin of the fountain, +surrounded with its mossy stones, petrified and dried up by volcanic heat, +at the head of the bay; we have still the dreary wilderness beyond it, +now scorched and blackened, ending in the Plain of Thingvalla, where the +King of Denmark was entertained more than a twelvemonth ago; we have +still the lake beyond that, where it should be, but now relieved of its +sulphurous vapours by eruptive jets of steam in its neighbourhood; and +besides, we have now Mount Hecla in active operation, by whose accumulated +fires and dreadful discharges, since Ossian's day, the whole island has +been torn and desolated. Here, therefore, again, the same question of +fact arises, and must be disposed of by all reasonable inquirers. In this +one identification we have geography, geology, history, and navigation +combined, beyond Macpherson's own comprehension--earthquakes, subterranean +fires, latent volcanic forces; a beautiful island where there is now +desolation; and a warlike people occupying its soil, subject to the Danes +600 years and more before the Danes themselves are supposed to have +discovered it. In the face of such a revelation as this, nowhere else to +be found but in Ossian, what does it signify that the Gaelic text of +_Inisthona_ has perished? The fact that it survives in English is only +a greater miracle, for which we are indebted solely to the patience and +fidelity of a man who has been called a liar and an impostor. + +One more miracle has yet to be added in the same field--viz., that Lake +Lego or Lough Neagh in Ireland, and Lake Lano in Iceland, both emitting +pestilential vapours, are geographically connected in Ossian with +subterranean volcanic movements which pass from Ireland, by the west +coast of Scotland, through the Orkneys to Inisthona; and thus the latest +theories of the most accomplished geologists have been anticipated more +than a hundred years before their announcement, by the work of a man who +is supposed to have had no original to guide him, and who himself had +not the remotest idea of what his own words conveyed. + +It remains then, after such illustrations, for those who still deny the +authenticity of Ossian to declare whether they have ever studied him; +and for those who still wrangle about the style of Macpherson's +so-called Gaelic to decide whether they will continue such petty warfare +among vowels and consonants, and ill-spelt mediaeval legends, when the +science, the history, the navigation, the atmospheric phenomena, and the +impending volcanic changes of Western Europe fifteen hundred years ago, +are all unveiled and detailed, with an accuracy and a minuteness beyond +cavil or competition, in the matchless English translation before them. +Will our most erudite grammarians never understand? Would they abandon +Genesis, shall we say, because _Elohim_ and _Jehovah_ are sometimes +interchanged in the text? Can they believe that any Jew, who could +concoct a book like Genesis, did not also know that _Elohim_ was a +plural noun? Can they any more, then, believe that a Celtic man with +brains enough to fabricate poems like _Fingal_ and _Temora_ did not know +that the Gaelic name for the sun was feminine? Can they see no other way +of accounting for such alleged variations of gender, and number, and +case, than by forgery, when the very forger himself must have seen them? +Or do they seriously prefer some letter of the Gaelic alphabet to a law +of nature? Will they forego the facts of an epoch, for the orthography +of a syllable? If so, then the friends of Ossian, who is one great mass +of facts, must turn once more to the common sense of the public, and +leave his etymological detractors at leisure to indulge their own +predilections, and to entertain one another. + +In the present aspect of the controversy, indeed, the only antagonists +entitled to anything like a patient hearing are the respectable, +perhaps venerable, geologists and antiquarians who still lodge or +linger about the Roman Wall; who talk, with a solemn air, about stern +facts; who are also fortified by the authority of Hugh Miller and Smith +of Jordanhill, and are led on to continuous defeat on their own ground, +under the auspices of the _Scotsman_, who knows well how to shut the +door politely in any man's face who pursues them. These gentlemen are +far from being either unimportant or unworthy antagonists, if they would +only speak intelligently for themselves and not allow their credit to be +usurped by some nameless reviewer in a newspaper, who may know less +about the whole matter in dispute than they do about Sanscrit. But let +them have patience. Their favourite haunts, and impregnable strongholds, +about Dunglass and Duntocher, shall be investigated with religious care; +and the waters of the Clyde, as high as they will honestly flow, let in +upon them without ceremony or remorse. As for the others, who, with no +great semblance of either grace or grammar to support them, persist in +affirming, with point-blank stolid effrontery, that Macpherson "must +have been an impostor," and that Ossian is a "fudge"--they may safely be +consigned in silence to their legitimate fate. + + P. HATELY WADDELL. + + (_To be Concluded in our next._) + + + + +TO PROFESSOR JOHN STUART BLACKIE. + +A LOCHABER LILT. + + + A health to thee, Stuart Blackie! + (I drink it in _mountain dew_) + With all the kindliest greetings + Of a heart that is leal and true. + Let happen what happen may + With others, by land or sea; + For me, I vow if I drink at all, + I'll drink a health to thee. + + A health to thee, Stuart Blackie! + A man of men art thou, + With thy lightsome step and form erect, + And thy broad and open brow; + With thy eagle eye and ringing voice + (Which yet can be soft and kind), + As wrapped in thy plaid thou passest by + With thy white locks in the wind! + + I greet thee as poet and scholar; + I greet thee as wise and good; + I greet thee ever lord of thyself-- + No heritage mean, by the rood! + I greet thee and hold thee in honour, + That thou bendest to no man's nod-- + Amidst the din of a world of sin, + Still lifting thine eye to God! + + Go, search me the world and find me; + Go, find me if you can, + From the distant Faroes with their mists and snows, + To the green-clad Isle of Man; + From John O' Groats to Maidenkirk, + From far Poolewe to Prague-- + Go, find me a better or wiser man + Than the Laird of Altnacraig. + + Now, here's to the honest and leal and true, + And here's to the learned and wise, + And to all who love our Highland glens + And our Bens that kiss the skies; + And here's to the native Celtic race, + And to each bright-eyed Celtic fair; + And here's to the Chief of Altnacraig-- + And hurrah! for the Celtic Chair! + + NETHER-LOCHABER. + + + + +GENERAL SIR ALAN CAMERON, K.C.B., + +COLONEL 79th CAMERON HIGHLANDERS. + + +A POPULAR writer[A] of the past generation, in some introductory +observations to his historical essay, makes the following on Scotland +and its natives:--Considering the limited population and extent of that +country, it has made a distinguished figure in history. No country in +modern times has produced characters more remarkable for learning, +valour, or ability, or for knowledge in the most important arts, both of +peace and of war; and though the natives of that formerly independent, +and hitherto unconquered kingdom, have every reason to be proud of the +name of _Britons_, which they have acquired since the Union; yet they +ought not to relinquish all remembrance of the martial achievements, and +the honourable characteristics of their ancestors. Acting on the +recommendation embodied in the foregoing quotation; and as the +conductors of the _Celtic Magazine_ have intimated their intention of +making biographies form occasionally part of its contents, the following +sketch of one who, in his day was not the least distinguished among our +Highland countrymen, but of whose eminent services to his country, +little or nothing has appeared, may prove interesting. Biography is +admitted to be one of the most interesting sections of literature. We +therefore trust that this feature in the Magazine will be appreciated. +The field will be found extensive, inasmuch that, happily for the +country, its benefactors have been numerous, the record of whose deeds +deserve to be remembered in this Celtic periodical for the +entertainment, and may be, the emulation of its readers. + +The details of the life and public services of the gallant gentleman now +submitted, and deserving record, are supplied partly from oral +information collected at intervals, and partly from documents received +by the writer, but which, although imperfect, it is hoped may be +acceptable, even at this distance since the lifetime of the subject. + +The absence of any adequate notice of Sir Alan Cameron's services, save +that in a couple of pages of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ at his death +(1828) may be ascribed much to his own reticence in supplying +information respecting them. Sir John Philliphart and Colonel David +Stewart, when collecting materials for their respective "Military +Annals," expressed their regret that Sir Alan's reply to their +applications for particulars of his life and career was of the most +meagre nature. Although in common with the majority of other +distinguished men, averse to giving publicity to the incidents of his +life, he was otherwise than reticent with his friends, and was never +happier than when surrounded by them. His house in Gloucester Place was +a rendezvous during many years for his companions in arms, and his +"Highland cousins" (as he fondly termed them) were always received with +a genial welcome. Notwithstanding the general absence of his name from +unofficial publications, it may be affirmed, without hesitation, that in +his day few were better known, and there was none whose fame stood +higher than _Ailean an Earrachd_. In the army he was held in universal +popularity, where, in consequence of his familiar habit of addressing +the Irish and Highland soldiers with the Gaelic salute of "_Cia mar tha +thu_," he was known as "Old cia mar tha." Indeed, he is so styled in Mr +Lever's novel of "Charles O'Malley," where he is represented (vol. 1, +chap, x.) as one of the friends of General Sir George Dashwood. Another +writer (Miss Sinclair's "Scotland and the Scotch") refers to him as "a +frequent visitor at her father's house in London, and a celebrity of the +past generation who was said to have been one of the principals in the +last duel fought with broadswords; and also known to his friends for the +more than hearty grasp he shook their hands with." These distinctions, +no doubt, combined many incidents for their existence. A tragic +adventure at the outset of his career; his imprisonment during the +American War; and afterwards his services with the Highlanders +throughout the wars of the period. He was remarkable for the immense +size and powerful structure of his person. In a verse from one of the +many Gaelic songs written in honour of _Fear an Earrachd_, alluding to +his majestic form and figure when in the Highland costume, the bard +says:-- + + Nuair theid thu 'n uidheam Gaidheil + Bu mhiann le Ban-Righ sealladh dhiot, + Le t-osan is math fiaradh, + Do chalp air fiamh na gallinne: + Sporan a bhruic-fhiadhaich, + Gun chruaidh shnaim riamh ga theannachadh, + Gur tric thu tarruing iall as + 'S ga riachaidh a measg aineartaich. + +He was the firm friend of the soldier, and considered every man in his +regiment committed to his personal care. In health he advised them; in +sickness he saw that their wants were supplied; and once any became +disabled, he was incessant in his efforts till he secured a pension for +them. Numerous are the stories told of the encounters between Sir Harry +Torrens (Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief) and himself for +his persistent applications for pensions and promotions. These poor +fellows, for whom he was never tired of interceding, were naturally +grateful for his fatherly feeling towards them. Such is an outline of +the characteristics of the subject of the following Biographical sketch. + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE sires of the subject of our memoir were of the tribe of Camerons' +known as _Sliochd Eoghainn 'ic Eoghainn_, and descended directly from +the parent stock of the chiefs of the clan, to whom they stood next in +relationship after the Fassiferns. The lands assigned for their +occupation, and on which they lived from the earliest settlement of the +Camerons in Lochaber, were within a short distance of the castle of the +chiefs, and the homestead of Sir Alan's family was named _Earrachd_, and +situated on an elevated plateau at the entrance of _Gleann Laoidh_ (Glen +Loy) which leads off in a westerly direction. It is close to, and seen +from, the banks of that portion of the Caledonian Canal between +Gairlochy and Banavie Locks. + +The parents of Alan were Donald Cameron and _Marsali_ (Marjory) MacLean +(of the family of Drimnin in Morvern). Two incidents connected with the +infancy of both father and son are peculiarly remarkable. The father was +an infant in the arms of his mother when she went to the gathering place +to support the Earl of Mar (1715) to bid farewell to her husband the day +the clan left; and Alan was an infant in the arms of his mother when +_his_ father marched out with the clan to meet Prince Charles at +Glenfinnan (1745). The battle of Sheriffmuir ended the career of Alan's +grandfather, and the disasters on the field of Culloden made the father +a wanderer from his hearth and home for the next three years, while his +family were subjected during that time to cruelties and indignities, +which were a disgrace to men calling themselves the soldiers of the +king. Domiciliary visits were made at frequent intervals, and on every +occasion numbers of cattle were driven off the lands for the use of the +garrison at Fort-William. These spoliations continued for several months +after the _rising_ was suppressed, and proved ruinous to the poor people +whose only crime was that they risked their lives in support of the +claims of one whom they believed to be the rightful heir to the Crown of +the United Kingdom. Their descendants, a quarter of a century +afterwards, risked their lives in another cause with equal fidelity and +bravery, asserting the rights and defending the honour of the British +Crown. It is known that the Clan Cameron was the first to appear in +support of the standard of the Prince. The gathering place of the clan +was at _Drochaid Laoidh_, and there ten of the _twelve_ tribes promptly +answered the _Cothionnal_ "_Thigibh a chlann na 'n con 's gheobh sibh +feoil._" The absentees were, the Camerons of Fassifern, and the Camerons +of Glen Nevis; the proverbial caution of the first forbade their +adherence, while the influence of the Whig Clan Grant prevailed with the +latter. The defection of the Fassiferns gave the place of second in +command, or Lieutenant of the clan, to Cameron of _Earrachd_ (Alan's +father). The clan turned out 600, but these were considerably augmented +a few days afterwards. After a spirited address from the chief (the +"gentle Lochiel"), the first march of that eventful movement commenced +with pipers playing and banners flying, wending their way with steady +demeanour and elastic step up Glen Loy, and over the hills that +separated them from Glenfinnan. + +Many of the chiefs of Lochiel were, in addition to being men of great +military renown and martial ardour, shrewd politicians. They encouraged +other septs to dwell on their lands that they might be serviceable to +assist them in keeping the jealous or more turbulent spirits of their +own clansmen in subjection. At any rate, with the Camerons in this +campaign, a third was composed of Maclachlans, Macmillans, Kennedies, +Macphees, Mackinnons, &c. + +The Governor of the garrison at Fort-William having heard of the +intended gathering at Glenfinnan, sent out a company of soldiers by way +of reconnoitring the proceedings. To avoid observance they followed a +devious path over the hills, and most opportunely fell in with the +Camerons, by whom they were surrounded, and without much difficulty made +prisoners. Besides the _eclat_ of this the first victory, the arms thus +possessed were of considerable advantage to the Highlanders, most of +whom were miserably equipped for the exigencies of the campaign. + +A most cordial reception was given to Lochiel and his clan by the +Prince, after which the Marquis of Tullibardine unfurled the standard, +amidst unbounded enthusiasm. It was made of white and blue silk. +Meanwhile the Laird of Keppoch was observed advancing with a contingent +of 300 of his Macdonells. At the head of the diminutive force thus made +up, Prince Charles embarked on a contest with a power the most +formidable in Europe. And the daring of this small band was even more +conspicuous when they at once determined to march direct on the capital +of the kingdom. Glenfinnan, formed not unlike an amphitheatre, and easy +of access for all parts of the Western Highlands, was admirably fitted +for the rendezvous. + +The morning march of the little army took the route alongside of an arm +of the sea named Lochiel (the same from which the chief takes his modern +title) to Corpach. Here they encamped the first night, afterwards +continuing their way up the Braes of Lochaber, Blair Athole, and towards +the City of Perth, which they occupied as an intermediate resting place. +A few days further march brought them within a short distance of +Edinburgh. On nearing the capital a halt was made at Duddingston, and a +council was held, at which it was decided to detach Lochiel's force to +make the advance and demand the surrender of the city. The Camerons +having been the first arrivals at Glenfinnan, may have been the cause of +this selection. Lochiel having received some injury from a fall off his +horse on the journey, he was unable to accompany his clansmen. Cameron +of Earrachd consequently succeeded to the command of this important +mission, and its success is matter of history. The events of the '45 are +introduced into the career of Alan (the son) somewhat irrelevantly, but +only to connect the latter with the singular incident that sixty-two +years afterwards it fell to _his_ lot to have been ordered by Sir Arthur +Wellesley to take possession of the Citadel of Copenhagen (1807). Taking +leave now of Prince Charles and his Highlanders, with their fortunes and +their failures, the narrative of Alan Cameron will proceed without +further divergence. + + +CHAPTER III. + +IT was during these turbulent times that Alan Cameron passed his +infantile years--he was four years of age before he saw his father, and, +although it was hoped that the settlement of the difficulties which had +existed would favour his career in life, exempt from the toils and +strifes of war, it was not so ordained, as the narrative will prove. + +Alan was the oldest son of a family of three sons and three daughters, +some of whom found meet employment subsequently in his regiment. Their +education was conducted as customary in those days by resident tutors +from Aberdeen and St Andrews. With one of these Alan, on reaching a +suitable age, went to the latter University for one or two sessions to +complete his education. As the oldest son, it was intended that on +arriving at a certain age he should relieve his father of the care and +management of the lands and stock, and become the responsible +representative of the family at home; while it was arranged that of the +other sons, Donald was to enter the naval service of the Dutch East +India Company, and the youngest, Ewan, was to find a commission in one +of the Fencible Corps of the county of Argyll. But this arrangement was +not to be, especially as regards the eldest and youngest sons. A +circumstance of melancholy interest occurred before the former had taken +to the succession of the farm, or the other had arrived at the age to be +an effective officer of his regiment, which had the effect of exactly +reversing these intentions. The occurrence referred to was of a tragical +nature, and caused the utmost sensation among the families of the +district, inasmuch as relationship was so general there that whatever +brought affliction to the hearth of one family, would leave its portion +also at the threshold of the others. Alan, like other youths, employed +much of his juvenile years in the sports of a Highland country +life--fox-hunting, deer-stalking, and fishing for salmon on the Lochy; +at all of which he was more than ordinarily successful. The nearest +house to his father's was that of another Cameron--chieftain of a +considerable tribe (_Mac Ile' Onaich_ or Sliochd Ile' Onaich), who had +recently died of wounds received at Culloden. His widow and children +occupied the house at Strone. The lady is reputed to have been very +handsome, and would apparently answer _Donachadh Ban's_ description of +_Isabel og an or fhuilt bhuidhe_, leastways, to borrow a word from the +Cockney--she was styled _par excellance_, _a Bhanntrach Ruadh_. Alan, like +a friendly kinsman, was most generous in sharing the successes of his +gun and rod with the widowed lady, for which, no doubt, she expressed +her acknowledgments to the youthful sportsman. The course of this +commendable neighbourship was rather unexpectedly interrupted by some +words of misunderstanding which occurred between Alan and a gentleman +(also a Cameron) who was closely related to the widow's late husband. He +was known as _Fear Mhorsheirlich_; had been _out_ in the '45 when quite +a youth, and escaped to Holland, from which he had only returned a few +months previous to the incident of this narrative. Contemporaries spoke +of him as being most accomplished, and of gallant bearing. The real +nature of the dispute has not descended sufficiently authentic to +justify more minute reference than that rumour assigned it to have been +an accusation that Alan was imprudently intimate with the handsome widow +of Strone (_a Bhanntrach Ruadh_). The delicate insinuation was resented +by Alan in language probably more plain than polite. Mr Cameron was +Alan's senior by some twenty years or so, but notwithstanding this, his +high spirit could not brook the rough retort of the accused; and, much +to Alan's confusion, the result was that he received a peremptory demand +to apologise or arrange a meeting for personal satisfaction. As he +declined to return the one, he was obliged to grant the desperate +alternative. Reading this account of men going out to engage in personal +combat for a cause so small, will lead us to consider that such a result +ought to have been prevented by the interposition of friends. But it +must not be overlooked that the customs of the times are very much +ameliorated from what prevailed in those days (1772). It is probable +that even then if the management of the affair had been confided to +skilful diplomatists the meeting might have been averted. Friends of +such conciliating habits were either not at hand, or they were not +consulted; and, as men equal in high spirits, the principals could not +volunteer any compromise. Alan's chief anxiety was how to keep the event +secret from his parents and family, therefore, he quietly repaired to a +relative to request his attendance the following morning as his friend +for the occasion. It is said that this gentleman used his utmost powers +of dissuasion, although unsuccessful--determination had, in the interval +of a few hours, become too settled for alteration. Alan, as the +challenged, was, according to duelling etiquette, entitled to the choice +of weapons and place of meeting. Although the pistol had in a measure +superseded the rapier in England, the broadsword remained the favourite +weapon in the north when required for the purpose of personal +_satisfaction_. Highlanders had always a preference for the weapon named +by Ossian--_An Lann tanna_--and by the modern bards--_Tagha nan Arm_. +Alan decided on making choice of the steel blade, and named a certain +obscure spot on the banks of the Lochy for the meeting on the following +day at the grey hour of the morning. His difficulty now was how to get +possession of one of these implements of war without exciting suspicion +or inquiries. They numbered more than one in the armory of every +Highland household, and in the case of those in his father's house they +were preserved with a care due to articles which had been often used +with effect in the past. Among them was one which had been _out_ in the +campaigns of 1689 (Dundee's), 1715 (Mar's), and in 1745-6. It was of +Spanish manufacture, and remarkable for the length and symmetry of its +blade, in consequence of which it received the sobriquet of _Rangaire +Riabhach_.[B] In his failure to find the keys of the arms depository, he +bethought him to make a confident and enlist the sympathies of an +elderly lady, who had been a member of the family since the days of his +childhood. The aged Amazon not only promised her aid, but highly +approved, and even encouraged, the spirit of her youthful relative. +Having access to the keys of the armory, the _Rangaire_ was soon in +Alan's hands, and with it he repaired to the place appointed, "to +vindicate his own honour and give _satisfaction_ to his antagonist." + +The time of year when this event took place was in the early days of +autumn. Daylight and the combatants arrived on the scene together. Vague +particulars of the preliminaries between them have been variously +retailed, but they are not necessary to the narrative, and therefore not +referred to. The fact that the elder Cameron was reputed to be a skilled +swordsman, also that it was not the first time he had met his foes in +the field, may have had some effect on the nerves of his younger +opponent, but there was no outward indication of it. The home-taught +countryman, however, must have felt that he was standing face to face +with no ordinary opponent. Alan, like the generality of young men, had +such practice in the use of the weapon as to make him acquainted with +the _cuts_ and _guards_. The superiority of Mr Cameron was at first +apparent and proved, inasmuch as he not only kept himself for some time +uninjured, but inflicted a severe cut on Alan's left arm. This blow may +be said to have brought the conflict to its sudden and fatal +termination. The pain, together with the humiliation, roused Alan's +wrath to desperation. It became manifest to the only two friends +present, that the life of one, if not of the two combatants, would be +sacrificed; but they found themselves quite powerless to restrain the +rage of the wounded principal. Their anticipations were not long in +being confirmed. The elder Cameron fell from a blow delivered on the +head by the powerful arm of his opponent. The force may be imagined when +it is stated that it was what is known as No. 7 cut, and that the +wounded man's sword in defending was forced into his own forehead. He +lived just long enough to reach Strone house--a mile or so distant. It +is impossible, except to those who have experienced a similar trial, to +estimate the state of feeling such a painful scene produced on the three +now remaining on the field. Time, however, was not to be trifled with, +for, although, there were no "men in blue" to make prisoners of the +breakers of the peace; yet the vanquished combatant had friends who +would not hesitate to take life for life. Alan's _achates_ at once +thought of that probability, or of revenge in some form. They, +therefore, hurried him away from the field and across the river Lochy. A +short consultation decided that he should remove himself entirely from +the Cameron country for the time being. This was concurred in by Alan, +who girded his claymore and determined on making direct for his uncle's +house in Morvern--(Maclean of Drimnin)--distant about sixty miles, where +he arrived without resting or drawing breath. The advice of his counsel, +and the decision arrived at, proved to be not unnecessary, as the sequel +proved. The fallen man was one of the cadets of a numerous tribe, and +they would naturally, in accordance with the habit of the times, seek to +avenge the death of their kinsman. They sought for the slayer of their +friend with diligence and zeal. Their search was far and wide; but, +fortunately for the fugitive, and thanks to the vigilance of his +relatives, his pursuers were defeated in their attempt to capture their +intended victim. The consternation of the uncle (Drimnin), on learning +the cause of his nephew's sudden visit, may be surmised; but what was +done could not be undone. When the Laird was satisfied with Alan's +version, that _Morsheirlich_ fell in fair fight, brought about by +himself, his displeasure somewhat relented. Affection and sympathy +mingled in the old Laird's bosom, and he decided to befriend his +unfortunate nephew at all hazard. It was conjectured that the search of +the avengers would be directed towards this district, where Alan's +relatives were numerous, and where he would likely betake himself in +this emergency. That he might elude his pursuers with greater certainty, +the Laird of Drimnin had him escorted across the Sound of Mull by some +trusty kinsmen, to the charge of another Maclean (Pennycross), and with +whom he was to remain until he received further instructions respecting +his future destination. The grief and revenge of _Morsheirlich's_ +friends had not yet subsided, and would not, for years to come, so that +Alan would be unwise to return to his native home, or place himself in +their path. + +The Collector of His Majesty's Customs at the Port of Greenock was an +immediate relation to the Laird of Drimnin by marriage, and a +correspondence was entered on with him with the view of ascertaining his +opinion as to what was best to be done for Alan. Negotiations occupied +more time for their conduct at that time than in the present day; at any +rate nothing satisfactory was proposed to Alan, so that for a couple of +years he continued wandering up and down the island of Mull, and through +the glens of Morvern, entirely under the guidance of his uncle. At last +a request came from the Collector to send the fugitive to him, that he +might find employment for him in his own office. The uncle decreed, +rather against Alan's grain, that the offer of clerkship should +meanwhile be accepted. He remained in this occupation for several +months, until he received an invitation from another friend residing in +Leith. This gentleman wrote to say that there was now an opportunity of +giving him service in an enterprise likely to be congenial to "a man of +metal" such as he conceived Alan to be. The war of American Independence +had commenced, and the employment which the Leith friend proposed was +that Alan should join a privateer which was fitting out in an English +port, armed with letters of marque, to capture and destroy American +shipping. Alan answered the invitation by repairing to Leith in person +with all speed. The nature of the service offered, however, did not +accord with his ideas of honourable warfare; in fact, he considered it +more akin to piracy, and not such as a gentleman should take part in. He +had no affection, he said, for clerkship, but he had still less for the +life of a pirate. + +While Alan was oscillating in this manner, he learned that another +relative of his mother's, Colonel Alan Maclean of Torloisk, who had +emigrated to one of the North American colonies some years previously, +had received a commission to embody a regiment of those of his +countrymen who had become residents on free-grants of land at the same +time with himself. To this gentleman Alan decided on going. Soldiering +was more genial to his nature than marine freebooting, and he calculated +on Colonel Maclean's assistance in that direction. (This Colonel +Maclean's grand-daughter was Miss Clephane Maclean, afterwards +Marchioness of Northampton.) Arrived in America, Alan was received +kindly by his relative, and being a soldier himself he viewed the past +event in Alan's life as of a nature not entirely without a certain +amount of recommendation to a wanderer in search of fame. Alan was not +long in the country when Colonel Maclean added him to his list of +volunteers, in a body, which was soon afterwards enrolled as the "Royal +Highland Emigrant Corps." + + (_To be Continued._) + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote A: Sir John Sinclair.] + +[Footnote B: Brown or brindled wrangler.] + + + + +A. R. wants to know "the best standard for Gaelic orthography?" + +CABAR-FEIDH would like to know if any of Grant's [_Bard Mor an +t-Slagain_] Poems were ever published? If so, where? and by whom? It is +believed many of his pieces, which were famous in his day, are still +known in the Lochbroom and Dundonnell districts. _Cabar_ requests that +any of the readers of the _Celtic Magazine_ to whom any of the poems are +known would kindly forward them for publication. Grant knew more +Ossianic poetry than any man of his day--1746 to 1842. Any information +regarding him would be of interest. + +MACAOIDH enquires to what sept of the clan the famous pipers--the +Mackays of Gairloch--belonged, and how did they find their way to that +part of the country? Are there any of their descendants still living in +this country or in North British America, where the last famous piper of +the race emigrated? The "Blind Piper" and bard was the most famous of +this remarkable family, and was a pupil in the celebrated College of the +Macrimmon's in Skye. + + + + +REPLY TO "GLENGARRY'S" QUERY.--There are words in English to +_Piobaireachd Mhic Ranuil_ or _Cilliechriost_, and they, with +particulars of the occasion on which the tune was composed, will appear +in the next instalment of the HIGHLAND CEILIDH in the _Celtic +Magazine_. + + + + +THE HIGHLAND CEILIDH. + +BY ALASTAIR OG. + +[CONTINUED.] + + +ON the conclusion of the "Spell of Cadboll" Norman received the hearty +and unanimous congratulations of the circle. The frail old bard, pulling +himself together, got up, went across the room, and shook him heartily +with both hands. This special honour was a most unusual one. It was +clear that _Alastair_ was just in the mood when a little persuasion +would suffice to get him to recite one of his own compositions. This he +was generally very chary of doing, but Norman getting the hint from one +of his immediate neighbours to ask the bard a special favour on this +occasion at once begged the honour of hearing one of the bard's +compositions from his own lips. The venerable old man bent himself +forward, began to work the fingers of both hands and beat time on his +leg as on a chanter, humming a quiet _cronan_. This was his usual +practice when composing or reciting poetry, and it was at once seen that +he would consent. "I will give you," says he, "a _Marbh-rann_, or Elegy +which no one ever heard, and which I have recently composed to the late +'Bailie Hector' of Dingwall, a son of my late esteemed friend +'Letterewe,' on condition that you, Sir, will give us another story when +I am done." Norman at once agreed, and the bard commenced as follows:-- + + +MARBHRANN. + +DO BHAILIDH EACHAINN, INBHIR-FEOTHARAN, MAC FEAR LEITIR-IUGH. + + AIR FONN--"_'S mi 'm shuidhe 'm 'onar._" + + O 's truagh an sgeula tha 'n diugh ri fheutainn, + Thug gal air ceudan a measg an t-sluaigh, + Mu Eachainn gleusta 'bha fearail, feumail, + Gun da ghlac an t-eug thu a threun-laoich chruaidh: + 'S mor bron do Chinnidh, mar eoin na tuinne + Tha 'n cronan duilich 's an ullaidh uath + 'S bho nach duisg an gair thu, 's nach cluinn thu 'n gailich, + Se chlaoidh do chairdean do bhas cho luath. + + Tha do chairdean cianal, tha bron da'lionadh, + Tha 'n inntinn pianail bho n' ghlac thu 'm bas, + 'S iad a ghnath fuidh thiorachd 's nach faigh iad sgial ort, + Ach thu bhi iosal an ciste chlar + Bu tu ceann na riaghailt 'us lamh na fialachd, + A sheoid gun fhiaradh, gun ghiamh gun sgath, + 'Sa nis bho 'n thriall thu, 's sinn lan dha d' iargan, + 'S nach eil 's na criochan fear a lionas d' ait. + + Bha d' aite miaghail 's gach cas an iarrt' thu, + A reir mo sgiala bu teirc do luach: + Bha thu pairteach, briathrach, ri ard 's ri iosal, + Gun chas gun dioghaltas air an tuath. + Bha foghlum Iarl' agad 's ciall fear riaghlaidh + Bu mhor an diobhail nach da liath do ghruag, + 'S ann a bharc an t-aog ort mas d' thainig aois ort, + A ghnuis bha faoilteach air chaochladh snuaidh. + + Bha do shnuadh cho aillidh 's nach fhaodainn s' aireamh, + Mar ros a gharaidh ri maduinn dhriuchd, + Bu chuachach, faineach, do ghruag an caradh-- + Mar theudan clarsaich an' inneal ciuil + Do ghruaidh dhearg dhathte, do shuil mar dhearcag, + Fuidh ghnuis na maise bu tapaidh surd + Rasg aotram, geanach, bho 'm b'fhaoilteach sealladh + Beul muirneach tairis, 's deud thana dhluth. + + O! 's dluth bha buaidhean a stri mu'n cuairt duit, + Cha b' eol dhomh suairceas nach robh 'do chre + Bha thu ciallach, narach, 's tu briathrach, pairteach, + 'S tu rianail, daimheil, ri d' chairdean fhein: + Bu tu firean, fallain, bha rioghail, geanach, + 'Sa leoghann tapaidh bu ghlaine beus; + Bhiodh min 'us gairg' air, bhiodh sith 'us fearg air, + Nuair chit' air falbh e bhiodh colg na cheum. + + Se do cheum bu bhrisge 's bu shubailt iosgaid, + Bha moran ghibhtean ri d' leasraidh fuaight. + Bu tu glas nan Gaidheal, bho mhuir gu braighe + Gu crioch Chinntaile 's na tha bho thuath. + O! 's lionmhor oigfhear tha 'n diugh gu bronach + A fasgadh dhorn, 'us ruith-dheoir le ghruaidh, + 'Bhiodh dana, sgaiteach, gun sgath gun ghealtachd, + Na 'm bu namhaid pears' bheireadh Eachainn bh' uainn. + + Bha thu mor an onair, bu mhor do mholadh, + Bu mhor do shonas, 's tu gun dolaidh gibht' + Bu mhor a b'fhiach thu, bu mhor do riaghailt, + Bu mhor do mhiagh ann an ciall 's an tuigs', + Bu mhor do churam, bu mhor do chuisean, + Bu mhor do chliu ann an cuirt 'sa meas, + Bu mhor do stata, 's bu mhor do nadur, + 'S cha mhor nach d'fhag thu na Gaidheil brist'. + + O! 's priseil, laidir, a ghibhte 'dh-fhag sinn-- + 'S mios'da Ghaeltachd bas an t-seoid, + Tha Mhachair tursach bho n' chaidh an uir ort, + 'S tu dh-fhuasgladh cuis do gach cuirt mu bhord, + Bha 'Ghalldachd deurach ri cainnt ma d' dheighinn, + Gu ruig Dun-eidin nan steud 's nan cleoc, + 'S cha ghabhainn gealtachd, air son a chantuinn, + Gur call do Bhreatuinn nach eil thu beo. + + 'S tu chraobh a b'aillidh bha 'n tus a gharaidh + 'S i ur a fas ann fuidh bhlath 's fuidh dhos, + O! 's truagh a dh-fhag thu ma thuath na Gaidheil + Mar uain gun mhathair ni'n sgath ri frois, + 'S tu b'urr' an tearnadh bho chunnart gabhaidh, + 'S an curaidh laidir, chuireadh spairn na tost, + Tha 'n tuath gu craiteach, 's na h-uaislean casai, + 'S bho 'n chaidh am fad ort 's truagh gair nam bochd. + +"_Ma ta 's math sibh fhein Alastair Bhuidhe; 's grinn comhnard a +bhardachd a th'air a mharbhrainn, ach cha 'n eil i dad nas fhearr na +thoill brod a Ghaidheil agus am fior dhuin' uasal dha'n d'rinn sibh i," +arsa Ruairidh Mor._ (Well done yourself, _Alastair Buidhe_, the +composition of the Elegy is beautifully elegant and even, but not any +better than the memory of the best of Highlanders and the truest of +gentlemen, to whom you composed it, deserved, said Big Rory). This was +the general verdict of the circle. + +Norman was now called upon to fulfil his part of the arrangement, which +he promptly did by giving the Legend, of which the following is a +translation:-- + + +THE RAID OF CILLIECHRIOST. + +THE ancient Chapel of Cilliechriost, in the Parish of Urray, in Ross, +was the scene of one of the bloodiest acts of ferocity and revenge that +history has recorded. The original building has long since disappeared, +but the lonely and beautifully situated burying-ground is still in use. +The tragedy originated in the many quarrels which arose between the two +chiefs of the North Highlands--Mackenzie of Kintail and Macdonald of +Glengarry. As usual, the dispute was regarding land, but it were not +easy to arrive at the degree of blame to which each party was entitled, +enough that there was bad blood between these two paladins of the north. +Of course, the quarrel was not allowed to go to sleep for lack of action +on the part of their friends and clansmen. The Macdonalds having made +several raids on the Mackenzie country, the Mackenzies retaliated by the +spoiling of Morar with a large and overwhelming force. The Macdonalds, +taking advantage of Kenneth Mackenzie's visit to Mull with the view to +influence Maclean to induce the former to peace, once more committed +great devastation in the Mackenzie country, under the leadership of +Glengarry's son Angus. From Kintail and Lochalsh the clan of the +Mackenzies gathered fast, but too late to prevent Macdonald from +escaping to sea with his boats loaded with the foray. A portion of the +Mackenzies ran to Eilean-donan, while another portion sped to the narrow +strait of the Kyle between Skye and the mainland, through which the +Macdonalds, on their return, of necessity, must pass. At Eilean-donan +Lady Mackenzie furnished them with two boats, one ten-oared and one +four-oared, also with arrows and ammunition. Though without their chief, +the Mackenzies sallied forth, and rowing towards Kyleakin, lay in wait +for the approach of the Macdonalds. The first of the Glengarry boats +they allowed to pass unchallenged, but the second, which was the +thirty-two-oared galley of the chief was furiously attacked. The +unprepared Macdonalds rushing to the side of the heavily loaded boat, +swamped the craft, and were all thrown into the sea, where they were +despatched in large numbers, and those who escaped to the land were +destroyed "by the Kintail men, who killed them like _sealchagan_."[A] +The body of young Glengarry was secured and buried in the very door-way +of the Kirk of Kintail, that the Mackenzies might trample over it +whenever they went to church. Time passed on, Donald _Gruamach_, the +old chief, died ere he could mature matters for adequate retaliation of +the Kyle tragedy and the loss of his son Angus. The chief of the clan +was an infant in whom the feelings of revenge could not be worked out by +action; but there was one, his cousin, who was the Captain or Leader in +whom the bitterest thoughts exercised their fullest sway. It seems now +impossible that such acts could have occurred, and it gives one a +startling idea of the state of the country then, when such a terrible +instance of private vengeance could have been carried out so recent as +the beginning of the seventeenth century, without any notice being taken +of it, even, in those days of general blood and rapine. Notwithstanding +the hideousness of sacrilege and murder, which, certainly, in magnitude +of atrocity, was scarcely ever equalled, there are many living, even in +the immediate neighbourhood, who are ignorant of the cause of the act. +Macranuil of Lundi, captain of the clan, whose personal prowess was only +equalled by his intense ferocity, made many incursions into the +Mackenzie country, sweeping away their cattle, and otherwise doing them +serious injury; but these were but preludes to that sanguinary act on +which his soul gloated, and by which he hoped effectually to avenge the +loss of influence and property of which his clan were deprived by the +Mackenzies, and more particularly wash out the records of death of his +chief and clansmen at Kyleakin. In order to form his plans more +effectually he wandered for some time as a mendicant among the +Mackenzies in order the more successfully to fix on the best means and +spot for his revenge. A solitary life offered up to expiate the manes of +his relatives was not sufficient in his estimation, but the life's blood +of such a number of his bitterest foemen, and an act at which the +country should stand aghast was absolutely necessary. Returning home he +gathered together a number of the most desperate of his clan, and by a +forced march across the hills arrived at the Church of Cilliechriost on +a Sunday forenoon, when it was filled by a crowd of worshippers of the +clan Mackenzie. Without a moments delay, without a single pang of +remorse, and while the song of praise ascended to heaven from fathers, +mothers, and children, he surrounded the church with his band, and with +lighted torches set fire to the roof. The building was thatched, and +while a gentle breeze from the east fanned the fire, the song of praise, +mingled with the crackling of the flames, until the imprisoned +congregation, becoming conscious of their situation, rushed to the doors +and windows, where they were met by a double row of bristling swords. +Now, indeed, arose the wild wail of despair, the shrieks of women, the +infuriated cries of men, and the helpless screaming of children, these +mingled with the roaring of the flames appalled even the Macdonalds, but +not so Allan Dubh. "Thrust them back into the flames" cried he, "for he +that suffers ought to escape alive from Cilliechriost shall be branded +as a traitor to his clan"; and they were thrust back or mercilessly hewn +down within the narrow porch, until the dead bodies piled on each other +opposed an unsurmountable barrier to the living. Anxious for the +preservation of their young children, the scorching mothers threw them +from the windows in the vain hope that the feelings of parents awakened +in the breasts of the Macdonalds would induce them to spare them, but +not so. At the command of Allan of Lundi they were received on the +points of the broadswords of men in whose breasts mercy had no place. +It was a wild and fearful sight only witnessed by a wild and fearful +race. During the tragedy they listened with delight to the piper of the +band, who marching round the burning pile, played to drown the screams +of the victims, an extempore pibroch, which has ever since been +distinguished as the war tune of Glengarry under the title of +"Cilliechriost." The flaming roof fell upon the burning victims, soon +the screams ceased to be heard, a column of smoke and flame leapt into +the air, the pibroch ceased, the last smothered groan of existence +ascended into the still sky of that Sabbath morning, whispering as it +died away that the agonies of the congregation were over. + +East, west, north, and south looked Allan Dubh Macranuil. Not a living +soul met his eye. The fire he kindled had destroyed, like the spirit of +desolation. Not a sound met his ear, and his own tiger soul sunk within +him in dismay. The Parish of Cilliechriost seemed swept of every living +thing. The fearful silence that prevailed, in a quarter lately so +thickly peopled, struck his followers with dread; for they had given in +one hour the inhabitants of a whole parish, one terrible grave. The +desert which they had created filled them with dismay, heightened into +terror by the howls of the masterless sheep dogs, and they turned to +fly. Worn out with the suddenness of their long march from Glengarry, +and with their late fiendish exertions, on their return they sat down to +rest on the green face of Glenconvinth, which route they took in order +to reach Lundi through the centre of Glenmorriston by Urquhart. Before +they fled from Cilliechriost Allan divided his party into two, one +passing by Inverness and the other as already mentioned; but the +Macdonalds were not allowed to escape, for the flames had roused the +Mackenzies as effectually as if the fiery cross had been sent through +their territories. A youthful leader, a cadet of the family of Seaforth, +in an incredibly short time, found himself surrounded by a determined +band of Mackenzies eager for the fray; these were also divided into two +bodies, one commanded by Murdoch Mackenzie of Redcastle, proceeded by +Inverness, to follow the pursuit along the southern side of Loch Ness; +another headed by Alexander Mackenzie of Coul, struck across the country +from Beauly, to follow the party of the Macdonalds who fled along the +northern side of Loch Ness under their leader Allan Dubh Macranuil. The +party that fled by Inverness were surprised by Redcastle in a +public-house at Torbreck, three miles to the west of the town where they +stopped to refresh themselves. The house was set on fire, and they +all--thirty-seven in number--suffered the death which, in the earlier +part of the day, they had so wantonly inflicted. The Mackenzies, under +Coul, after a few hours' hard running, came up with the Macdonalds as +they sought a brief repose on the hills towards the burn of Aultsigh. +There the Macdonalds maintained an unequal conflict, but as guilt only +brings faint hearts to its unfortunate votaries they turned and again +fled precipitately to the burn. Many, however, missed the ford, and the +channel being rough and rocky several fell under the swords of the +victorious Mackenzies. The remainder, with all the speed they could +make, held on for miles lighted by a splendid and cloudless moon, and +when the rays of the morning burst upon them, Allan Dubh Macranuil and +his party were seen ascending the southern ridge of Glen Urquhart with +the Mackenzies close in the rear. Allan casting an eye behind him and +observing the superior numbers and determination of his pursuers, called +to his band to disperse in order to confuse his pursuers and so divert +the chase from himself. This being done, he again set forward at the +height of his speed, and after a long run, drew breath to reconnoitre, +when, to his dismay, he found that the avenging Mackenzies were still +upon his track in one unbroken mass. Again he divided his men and bent +his flight towards the shore of Loch Ness, but still he saw the foe with +redoubled vigour, bearing down upon him. Becoming fearfully alive to his +position, he cried to his few remaining companions again to disperse, +until they left him, one by one, and he was alone. Allan, who as a mark +of superiority and as Captain of the Glengarry Macdonalds, always wore a +red jacket, was easily distinguished from the rest of his clansmen, and +the Mackenzies being anxious for his capture, thus easily singled him +out as the object of their joint and undiverted pursuit. Perceiving the +sword of vengeance ready to descend on his head he took a resolution as +desperate in its conception as unequalled in its accomplishment. Taking +a short course towards the fearful ravine of Aultsigh he divested +himself of his plaid and buckler, and turning to the leader of the +Mackenzies, who had nearly come up with him, beckoned him to follow, +then with a few yards of a run he sprang over the yawning chasm, never +before contemplated without a shudder. The agitation of his mind at the +moment completely overshadowed the danger of the attempt, and being of +an athletic frame he succeeded in clearing the desperate leap. The young +and reckless Mackenzie, full of ardour and determined at all hazards to +capture the murderer followed; but, being a stranger to the real width +of the chasm, perhaps of less nerve than his adversary, and certainly +not stimulated by the same feelings, he only touched the opposite brink +with his toes, and slipping downwards he clung by a slender shoot of +hazel which grew over the tremendous abyss. Allan Dubh looking round on +his pursuer and observing the agitation of the hazel bush, immediately +guessed the cause, and returning with the ferocity of a demon who had +succeeded in getting his victim into his fangs, hoarsely whispered, "I +have given your race this day much, I shall give them this also, surely +now the debt is paid," when cutting the hazel twig with his sword, the +intrepid youth was dashed from crag to crag until he reached the stream +below, a bloody and misshapen mass. Macranuil again commenced his +flight, but one of the Mackenzies, who by this time had come up, sent a +musket shot after him, by which he was wounded, and obliged to slacken +his pace. None of his pursuers, however, on coming up to Aultsigh, dared +or dreamt of taking a leap which had been so fatal to their youthful +leader, and were therefore under the necessity of taking a circuitous +route to gain the other side. This circumstance enabled Macranuil to +increase the distance between him and his pursuers, but the loss of +blood, occasioned by his wound, so weakened him that very soon he found +his determined enemies were fast gaining on him. Like an infuriated wolf +he hesitated whether to await the undivided attack of the Mackenzies or +plunge into Loch Ness and attempt to swim across its waters. The shouts +of his approaching enemies soon decided him, and he sprung into its +deep and dark wave. Refreshed by its invigorating coolness he soon swam +beyond the reach of their muskets; but in his weak and wounded state it +is more than probable he would have sunk ere he had crossed half the +breadth had not the firing and the shouts of his enemies proved the +means of saving his life. Fraser of Foyers seeing a numerous band of +armed men standing on the opposite bank of Loch Ness, and observing a +single swimmer struggling in the water, ordered his boat to be launched, +and pulling hard to the individual, discovered him to be his friend +Allan Dubh, with whose family Fraser was on terms of friendship. +Macranuil, thus rescued remained at the house of Foyers until he was +cured of his wound, but the influence and the Clan of the Macdonalds +henceforth declined, while that of the Mackenzies surely and steadily +increased. + +The heavy ridge between the vale of Urquhart and Aultsigh where Allan +Dubh Macranuil so often divided his men, is to this day called +_Monadh-a-leumanaich_ or "the Moor of the Leaper." + + (_To be Continued._) + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote A: Snails.] + + + + +CAN THIS BE THE LAND? + + + "_How are the mighty fallen!_" + + Can this be the land where of old heroes flourished? + Can this be the land of the sons of the blast? + Gloom-wrapt as a monarch whose greatness hath perished, + Its beauty of loneliness speaks of the past:-- + Tell me ye green valleys, dark glens, and blue mountains, + Where now are the mighty that round ye did dwell? + Ye wild-sweeping torrents, and woe-sounding fountains, + Say, is it their spirits that wail in your swell? + + Oft, oft have ye leaped when your children of battle, + With war-bearing footsteps rushed down your dark crests; + Oft, oft have ye thundered with far-rolling rattle, + The echoes of slogans that burst from their breasts:-- + Wild music of cataracts peals in their gladness,-- + Hoarse tempests still shriek to the clouds lightning-fired,-- + Dark shadows of glory departed, in sadness + Still linger o'er ruins where dwelt the inspired. + + The voice of the silence for ever is breaking + Around the lone heaths of the glory-sung braves; + Dim ghosts haunt in sorrow, a land all forsaken, + And pour their mist tears o'er the heather-swept graves:-- + Can this be the land of the thunder-toned numbers + That snowy bards sung in the fire of their bloom? + Deserted and blasted, in death's silent slumbers, + It glooms o'er my soul like the wreck of a tomb. + + SUNDERLAND. WM. ALLAN. + + + + +HIGHLAND FOLK-LORE. + +BY "NETHER-LOCHABER." + + +FOLK-LORE--a word of recent importation from the German--is a big word, +and Highland Folk-Lore is a big subject, so big and comprehensive that +not one Magazine article, but a many-chaptered series of Magazine +articles would be necessary ere one could aver that he had done his +"text" anything like justice. On the present occasion, therefore, we do +not pretend to enter into the heart of a subject so extensive and +many-sided: we shall content ourselves with a little scouting and +skirmishing, so to speak, along the borders of a territory which it is +possible we may ask the readers at some future time to explore along +with us more at large. A few of the many proverbs, wisdom words, and +moral and prudential sentences in daily use shall, in clerical phrase, +meantime form "the subject-matter of our discourse." Nor must the reader +think that the subject is in any wise _infra dignitate_, unworthy, that +is, or undignified. Of the world-renowned Seven Wise Men of Greece, five +at least attained to all their eminence and fame no otherwise than +because they were the cunning framers of maxims and proverbs that +rightly interpreted were calculated to advance and consolidate the moral +and material welfare of the nation around them. Of the remaining two, it +is true that one was an eminent politician and legislator, and the other +a natural philosopher of the first order; but it is questionable if +either of them would have been considered entitled to their prominent +place in the Grecian _Pleiades_ of Wise Men had they not been +proverb-makers and utterers of brief but pregnant "wisdom-words" as +well. Even Solomon, the wisest of men, was less celebrated as a botanist +and naturalist, though he spake of trees, from the cedar that is in +Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; and of +beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes--less +celebrated even as a lyrist, though his songs were a thousand and five, +than for his proverbs and moral maxims of which the record takes care to +tell us he spake no less than "three thousand." So much then for the +dignity of our subject: what engaged the attention of Solomon and the +Seven Sages of Greece cannot surely be unworthy some small share of our +regard. + +"Six and half-a-dozen" is an English phrase, implying either that two +things are exactly the same, or so very much alike as to be practically +the same. The old Gael was not much of an arithmetician, he rarely +meddled with numbers, and therefore no precisely similar phrase is to be +found in his language; but he could express the same idea in his own +way, and so pithily and emphatically that his version of the proverbial +axiom is, perhaps, as good as is to be found in any other language +whatever. The Gael's equivalent for "six and half-a-dozen" is, "_Bo +mhaol odhar, agus bo odhar, mhaol_"--(A cow that is doddled and dun, and +a cow that is dun and doddled)--a phrase drawn, as are many of his most +striking proverbs and prudential maxims, and very naturally too, from +his pastoral surroundings. We recollect an admirable and very ludicrous +application of this saying in a story once told us by the late Dr Norman +Macleod of Glasgow, "old" Norman that is, not the Barony Doctor, but his +father:--When a boy in Morven, of which parish his father was minister, +there was a well-known character in that part of the country called +"_Eoghann Gorach Chraigan Uibhir_," Daft Ewen of Craig-an-Ure in Mull, a +born "natural," who, although a veritable "fool," had yet in him much of +the quiet, keen-edged satire and roguery which is not unfrequently found +in the better ranks of such "silly ones." Ewen regularly perambulated +Mull and Morven, with an occasional raid into the neighbouring districts +of Sunart and Ardnamurchan. He had sense enough to be able to carry the +current news of the day from district to district, and on this account +was always a welcome guest in every farm-house and hamlet on his beat; +and as he sung a capital song, and was remarkable for much harmless +drollery and "dafting," he was, it is needless to say, a great favourite +everywhere. He took a great interest in ecclesiastical affairs, and +always attended the church when the state of his wardrobe and other +circumstances permitted. On one occasion Ewen was passing through +Morven, and knowing that the annual communion time was approaching, he +called upon the minister and begged to know who his assistants on that +particular occasion were to be. He was going to pay a visit, he said, to +all the glens and outlying hamlets in the parish, and as the people were +sure to ask him the important question, he wished to have the proper +answer direct from the minister himself. "_Tha raghadh 'us taghadh nam +ministeiran, Eoghainn; An Doiteir A. B. a Inneraora, agus an Doiteir C. +D. a Muille._" (The pick and choice of ministers Ewen said the minister, +Doctor A. B. from Inverary, and Doctor C. D. from Mull). "Whe-e-we!" in +a contemptuously prolonged low whistle replied Ewen. "_An ann mar so a +tha; Bo mhaol, odhar, agus bo odhar, mhaol!_" (And is it even so; are +these to be your assistants? A cow that is doddled and dun, and a cow +that is dun and doddled!) Than which nothing could more emphatically +convey Ewen's very small opinion of the "assistants" mentioned. They +were much of a muchness; six and half-a-dozen; a cow doddled and dun, +and a cow dun and doddled! The Gael was a keen observer of natural +phenomena, and some of his best sayings were founded on the knowledge +thus acquired. Meteorological "wisdom-words" for instance, are quite +common. "_Mar chloich a ruith le gleann, tha feasgar fann foghairidh_" +is an admirable example. (As is the headlong rush of a stone, atumbling +down the glen, so hurried and of short duration is an autumnal +afternoon.) The philosophy of the saying is that you are to begin your +work betimes in the season of autumn; at early dawn if possible, and not +to stop at all for dinner, seeing that once the day has passed its +prime, the hour of sunset approaches with giant strides, and there is +little or no twilight to help you if you have been foolish enough to +dawdle your time in the hours of sunset proper. "_'S fas a chuil as nach +goirear_" is another pregnant adage. (Desert, indeed, is the corner +whence no voice of bird is heard.) Some people are very quiet, almost +dumb indeed, but on the occurrence of some event, or on the back of +some remark of yours, they speak, and speak so clearly and well that +you are surprised, and quote the saying that it is a solitary and silent +glade indeed whence no voice is heard. "_Am fear a bhios na thamh, +saoilidh e gur i lamh fhein as fhearr air an stiuir_" is a common saying +of much meaning and wide application. (He that is idle [a mere +spectator] thinks that he could steer the boat better than the man +actually in charge.) And we all know how apt we are to meddle, and +generally unwisely, with the proper labours of others. Nothing, for +instance, is more annoying and dangerous even than to put forth your +hand by way of helping a driver in managing his horses, or to interfere +with the tiller of a boat at which a perfectly competent man is already +seated. We have known the saying just quoted scores of times suffice to +stop the unwise and gratuitous intermeddling of such as were disposed to +interfere with what did not properly belong to them. "_Bidh fear an aon +mhairt aig uairean gun bhainne_" is a frequent saying, and implies more +than is at first sight apparent. (The man with only one cow will be at +times without milk.) The import of the saying is something more than a +mere statement of fact. You have only one cow, and you are certain to be +at times without milk. Get by your industry and perseverance _two_ cows +or three, and then you are pretty sure to have more or less milk all the +year round. + +We have thus briefly touched the hem, so to speak, of a very interesting +subject--a subject that in the Highlands of Scotland, at least, has +never yet received a tittle of the attention it deserves. And let no one +be afraid to meddle with it to any extent he pleases, for we promise him +that he will meet with nothing in any way to shock his delicacy or +offend his taste, no matter how fine so ever of edge and exquisite; and +in this respect, at all events, the good old Gael is superior to that of +any other people of whom we have any knowledge. We may, perhaps, deal +more at large with the subject in a future number. Meantime, we may +state that we are of the same opinion as the Editor of the _Inverness +Courier_; there is abundance of room for the _Celtic Magazine_ if it +continues to be well conducted, without, in the least degree, +encroaching upon the territories of any other periodicals interested in +Celtic affairs. + + NETHER-LOCHABER, November 1875. + + + + +IMAGINATION. + +_Dedicated by consent to_ ALFRED TENNYSON. + + + All hail! far-seeing and creative power, + Before whose might the universe bends low + In silent adoration! Guide my pen + While from my soul the sounds of music pour + Towards thy praises! For to thee belongs + The sounding stream of never-ending song. + When out of chaos rose the glorious world, + Sublime with mountains flowing from the skies, + On lonely seas, sweet with slow-winding vales, + Clasping the grandeur of the heavenly hills + With soft and tender arms, or lowly glens + Shrinking from glowing gaze of searching sun + Beneath the shade of the high-soaring hills; + Grand with great torrents roaring o'er fierce crags + In suicidal madness, sad with seas + That flash in silver of the gladdening sun, + Yet ever wail in sadness 'neath the skies + Of smiling heaven (like a lovely life + That wears a sunny face, and wintry soul), + Hopeful with fickle life renewing spring, + Gladden'd with summer's radiance, autumn's joy, + And sad and sullen with fierce winter's rain; + Ruled by the race of God-made men who rush + Towards eternity with half-shut eyes, + Blind to the glories of sweet sky and sea, + Wood-covered earth, and sun-reflecting hill, + Thou in the mind of God, almighty power! + Ruled, and directed his creative hand. + With thee the seas spread and the hills arose + To do thy Maker's will; the silvery stars + Like heavenly glow-worms, beautifully cold, + And gladly silent, gemmed the gloom of night, + And shed the gladdening glances of their eyes + On the sad face of the night-darken'd earth. + Without thy sweetening influence, the soul + Of nature's bard were like a sunless plain, + Or summer garden destitute of flowers, + A winter day ungladden'd by the gleam + Of flowing sun, or river searching wild + Through desert lands for ne'er appearing trees, + Or peaceful flowers that sandy scenes disdain. + No thought the philosophic mind imparts + To an enraptured world, but bears thy power, + And owns thee as the agent of its birth. + O'er the sweet landscape of the poet's mind + Thou sunlike shed'st the gladness of thy love, + Inspiring all the scenes that lie below, + Sweetening the bowers where Fancy loves to dwell, + And on the crest of some huge mountain-thought + Placing the glory of thy fleecy cloud, + To make its frowning grandeur greater still, + And heighten all its beauteous mystery. + Thro' the sweet-coloured plains of Poesy + Thou flowest like a sweetly-sounding stream, + Here, rushing furious o'er the rocky crags + Of wild, original thought, and there, 'neath bowers + Of imagery, winding on thy way + Peaceful and still towards the fadeless sea + Of all enduring immortality. + Like lightning flash for which no thunder-roar + Makes preparation, from th' astonished mind + On an astonished and admiring world + Thou dartest in thine overwhelming course, + Leaving a track of splendour in thy train, + And lighting up the regions of thy way. + With thee sweet music sings her various song, + And thrills the soul and elevates the mind + With "thoughts that often lie too deep for tears," + And own a sadness sweeter than the rills, + A softer sweetness than the sinking sun + Gives to the sparkling face of pensive sea. + With thee great genius walketh hand in hand + Towards the loftiest thought, or sits in pride + Upon the golden throne of starry Fame. + Borne on thy wings the pensive poet flies + To the sweet-smiling land of sunny dreams, + Or pours his floods of music o'er the world. + With thy bright gleams his daily deeds are gemmed, + And by thy balmy influence, his life + Survives when he is dead! + + MAIDENKIRK. D. R. WILLIAMSON. + + + + +LACHLAN MACKINNON, + +OR "LACHLAN MAC THEARLAICH OIG," THE SKYE BARD. + + +AMONG many who have distinguished themselves by their display of +poetical talents, the subject of the present brief memoir, holds a +prominent place as a Gaelic poet. It is true that he was but little +known to the world, but he was much admired as a bard, and greatly +respected as a gentleman in his native "Isle of Mist." + +Lachlan Mackinnon, patronimically designated "Lachlan Mac Thearlaich +Oig," was born in the parish of Strath, Isle of Skye, in the year 1665. +He was son of Charles Mackinnon of Ceann-Uachdarach, a cadet of the old +family of Mackinnon of Mackinnon of Strath. His mother was Mary Macleod, +daughter of John Macleod of Drynoch, in the same island. The poetical +genius of _Lachlan Mac Thearlaich_ showed itself almost in his infancy. +His father, like all Skye gentlemen in those good olden times, was a +very social and hospitable man, who seemed never to be contented unless +he had his house at Ceann-Uachdarach full of neighbours to enjoy +themselves in his family circle. The company were often much amused with +little Lachlan when a mere child, seeing the facility with which he +composed couplets on any subject prescribed to him. At the age of eight +he possessed a vigour of mind, and a vivacity of imagination rarely to +be met with in youths of more than double his age. A predilection for +poetry seemed to have gained an ascendency in his mind, over all other +pursuits and amusements of his tender years. He received the rudiments +of his education, under a tutor in his father's family, and as his +native island had not, at that remote period, the advantage of public +schools of any note, the young bard was sent, at the age of sixteen, to +the school of Nairn, which, from its reputation at the time as an +excellent seminary, was much resorted to by gentlemen's sons from all +parts of the north. The young Hebridean remained at Nairn continuously +for three years, and was greatly distinguished, not merely by his bright +talents, but by his assiduity and perseverance in improving them. His +studious disposition and diligent application were amply testified by +the progress made by him, and no less duly appreciated by his superiors +in the place. His love for study was enthusiastic, particularly in +regard to the languages. He was by far the best Greek and Latin pupil at +the Nairn Academy. His moments of relaxation were spent in the +composition of poems in the English language while at Nairn, although, +undoubtedly, the Gaelic was the medium which was most congenial to his +mind for giving expression in rhyme to his sentiments. At Nairn, +however, he composed several beautiful little pieces, and among the +rest a song which was much admired, to the air subsequently immortalized +by Burns as "Auld Lang Syne." Although his productions in English were +much admired, yet, as it was to him an acquired language, they could +bear no comparison with his truly superior compositions in Gaelic. It is +a matter of much regret that so few of his Gaelic poems are extant. Like +many bards he unfortunately trusted his productions to his memory; and +although well qualified, as a Gaelic writer, to commit them to paper, +yet he neglected it, and hence hundreds of our best pieces in Gaelic +poetry are lost for ever. Had they been all preserved, and given to the +public in a collected shape, they would have raised the talented author +to that high rank among the Celtic bards, which his genius so richly +merited. + +In appearance _Lachlan Mac Thearlaich_ was tall, handsome, and +fascinating. He was distinguished by a winning gentleness and modesty of +manners, as well as by his generous sensibility and steadfast +friendship. His presence was courted in every company, and he was +everywhere made welcome. Of most of the chieftains and Highland lairds +he was a very acceptable acquaintance, while no public assembly, or +social meeting was considered complete if that object of universal +favour, the bard of Strath, were absent. + +When a very young man he was united in marriage to Flora, daughter of Mr +Campbell of Strond, in the Island of Harris. Fondly attached to his +native isle, he rented from his chief the farm of Breakish, with the +grazing Island of Pabbay, at L24 sterling annually. And as an instance +of the many changes effected by time, it may be mentioned that the same +tenement is now rented at about L250 a-year. From what has been said of +the bard's amiable disposition and gentle manners, it will seem no wise +surprising that he proved to be one of the most affectionate of +husbands, and dutiful of fathers. The happiness of the matrimonial state +was to him, however, but of short duration. His wife, to whom he was +greatly attached, died in the prime and vigour of life. He was rendered +so disconsolate by means of his sudden and unexpected bereavement, that +he took a dislike to the scene of his transient happiness, and +relinquished his farm in Strath. Having removed from Skye, he took +possession of a new tenement of lands from Mackenzie in Kintail. Greatly +struck by what he considered the unrefined manners of his new neighbours +in that quarter, and contrasting them with the more genial deportment of +his own distinguished clan in Strath, he had the misfortune to exercise +his poetic genius in the composition of some pungent satires and +lampoons directed against the unpolished customs of the natives of +Kintail. It is needless to add that by these means he gained for himself +many enemies, and forfeited the good wishes of all around him. Finding +himself thus disagreeably situated, after an absence of four years, he +returned to Skye, where he was cordially received by his chief, and put +in possession of his former farm at Breakish. After being twelve years a +widower he went to Inverness for the purpose of visiting some of his +schoolfellows who resided there. Previous to his leaving the capital of +the Highlands his acquaintances there urged upon him the propriety of +marrying a widow lady of the name of Mackintosh, whom they represented +as being possessed of considerable means. He reluctantly complied with +their wishes, but it became soon too apparent to him that he did so at +the expense of his own happiness. His bride was not only penniless but +deeply involved in debt. Next morning after his marriage he was visited +by messengers who served him with summonses for a heavy debt due by his +wife. In the impulse of the moment, while he held the summons in his +hand, he seized a pen, and having taken his bride's Bible, wrote the +following expressive lines on the blank leaf:-- + + "Tha'n saoghal air a roinn, + Tha da dhan ann, + Tha dan ann gu bhi sona, + Ach tha dan an donuis ann." + +This marriage proved, in every respect, an unhappy one. The lady, as a +stepmother, was peevish, harsh, and undutiful. Her cruelty to her +husband's children was a continual source of grief to him, and of +unhappiness to his domestic circle. On a certain day, the lady +quarrelling with one of her step-daughters, told her she hated to see +her face, and that she always considered the day an unlucky one on which +she had the misfortune to meet her first in the morning. The girl, +inheriting no doubt a share of her father's power of repartee, quickly +answered her stepmother, and said, "You have every cause to believe that +it is unlucky to meet me, for I was first-foot to my dear father the +unfortunate morning on which he left home to marry you." + +Even amid his misfortunes, which he endured with much forbearance, +_Lachlan Mac Thearlaich_ was renowned for his hospitality and genuine +Highland friendship. Remote though the period be since he lived, still +his memory is fondly cherished in the place. He was possessed of so +endearing accomplishments, that time itself can hardly wipe away his +memory from the minds of his countrymen and clan. Many fragments of his +numerous songs continued for ages to be repeated in the country, but it +is feared, from all the changes which have taken place in the +circumstances of the natives, that these are now irretrievably lost. +Many of his witty sayings became proverbial in the island. He was one of +the first sportsmen in the country, and was considered one of the most +successful deer stalkers of his day. Along with his other +accomplishments he was an excellent performer on the violin, and in this +respect he had no equal in the Western Isles. Of him it may be justly +said:-- + + "To thee harmonious powers belong, + That add to verse the charm of song; + Soft melody with numbers join, + And make the poet half divine!" + +As a proof of Lachlan Mackinnon's loyalty, it may be mentioned that, +quite contrary to the wishes of his chief, he went along with some other +loyal subjects, all the way from Skye to Inverness, in the year 1717, to +sign a congratulatory address to George I. on his succeeding to the +British throne. He spent the remainder of his days in his native isle +and parish, and died universally regretted in the year 1734, at the age +of sixty-nine. His funeral was attended by most of the Highland +chieftains, and their principal vassals. His cousin-german, Alasdair +Dubh of Glengarry, and all his gentlemen tacksmen were then present, as +also Macdonald of the Isles, Macleod of Dunvegan, Mackinnon of +Mackinnon, and Mackenzie of Applecross, with their chief retainers. A +numerous band of Highland pipers preceded the bier playing the usual +melancholy coronach. Amidst a vast assemblage of all ranks and classes +his remains were consigned to their kindred dust in the old churchyard +of Gillchrist, being the burying-ground of the parish which gave him +birth. A rude flag, with an inscription, still marks the poet's grave; +but the memory of his many virtues will be handed down in the place to +generations yet unborn. + +_Lachlan Mac Thearlaich_ composed a beautiful and pathetic song which is +still preserved, to "Generosity, Love, and Liberality." He personified +those three, and pretended that he met them as lonely outcasts in a +dreary glen, and addressed them:-- + + Latha siubhal sleibhe dhomh, + 'S mi 'falbh leam fein gu dluth, + A chuideachd anns an astar sin + Air gunna glaic a's cu, + Gun thachair clann rium anns a' ghleann, + A'gul gu fann chion iuil; + Air leam gur h-iad a b' aillidh dreach + A chunnacas riamh le m' shuil. + + Gu'm b' ioghnadh leam mar tharladh dhoibh + A'm fasach fad air chul, + Coimeas luchd an aghaidhean, + Gu'n tagha de cheann iuil, + Air beannachadh neo-fhiata dhomh + Gu'n d' fhiaraich mi, "Co sud?" + 'S fhreagair iad gu cianail mi + A'm briathraibh mine ciuin. + + "Iochd, a's Gradh, a's Fiughantas, + 'Nar triuir gur h-e ar n-ainm, + Clann nan uaislean urramach, + A choisinn cliu 's gach ball, + 'Nuair a phaigh an fheile cis d'an Eug + 'Sa chaidh i fein air chall + 'Na thiomnadh dh' fhag ar n-athair sinn + Aig maithibh Innse-Gall." + + SGIATHANACH. + + + + +FINGAL. + + +IN the yellow sunset of ancient Celtic glory appear the band of warriors +known as the Ossianic heroes. Under the magnifying and beautifying +influence of that sunset they tower upon our sight with a stature and +illustriousness more than human. Of these heroes, the greatest and best +was _Fionn_ or Fingal. Unless our traditions are extensively falsified +he was a man in whom shone all those virtues which are the boast of our +race. The unflinching performance of duty, the high sense of honour, the +tenderness more than woman's, and the readiness to appreciate the +virtues of others were among his more conspicuous characteristics. Now +that Celtic anthropology is being so extensively discussed, is it not +remarkable that Fingal, who so truly personifies the character of that +race, is not adduced as the representative Celt? He was a Celt to the +very core, and Celtic character has been in no small degree moulded by +copying his example. He was, in truth, not the _ultimus_ but the _Primus +Gaelorum_. + +Nevertheless, it must be confessed that to many English readers Fingal +is nothing but a name, and that even to most of them he looms dark and +dim through the mist of years. Unhappily, a nature so transcendently +humane and heroic as his is not the sort to win the admiration of the +vulgar. Nay, so far is its simple grandeur removed above the common +materialism of modern life that the most refined cannot, at first sight, +appreciate its exalted loveliness. + +The fullest and, we believe, the truest account of him is to be found in +Ossian's poems. That the poetry so denominated was, in substance, +composed by Ossian we have no doubt. At any rate the descriptions of +Fingal therein contained are not only consistent throughout, but also in +accordance with all that we know of him from other sources. But were we +even to adopt the absurd theory that Fingal is a creation of +Macpherson's imagination, the intrinsic beauty of the picture well +deserves our study. + +An old man retaining all the energy, but not the rashness of youth; age +with vigour instead of decrepitude, delighting in the words of sound +wisdom rather than the usual tattle of second childhood; and, withal, an +old man who is prone to moralise as old men are; a man able and willing +to do his duty in the present though his heart is left in the past; such +is the most prominent figure in these poems. He is pourtrayed as of +tall, athletic frame and kingly port, his majestic front and hoary locks +surmounted by the helm and eagle plume of the Celtic kings. + +Though the idea of Fingal pervades most of Ossian's poems he is seldom +introduced _in propria persona_. Even when attention is directed to him +the poet merely and meagerly sketches the herculean outline, and leaves +our imagination to do the rest:-- + + At intervals a gleam of light afar + Glanced from the broad, blue, studded shield of war, + As moved the king of chiefs in stately pride; + With eager gaze his eye was turned aside + To where the warriors' closing ranks he sees; + Half-grey his ringlets floated in the breeze + Around that face so terrible in fight + And features glowing now with grim delight.--_Tem. B. V._ + +In order to introduce his hero with the greater _eclat_, the bard first +places his friends in great straits; represents them, though brave, as +overcome by the enemy and without hope, apart from Fingal. Both friends +and foes speak of him in terms of respect, and even the greatest leaders +acknowledge his superiority. When Fingal appears on the scene the poet +rouses himself to the utmost. He piles simile on simile to give an +adequate idea of his first charge-- + + Through Morven's woods when countless tempests roar, + When from the height a hundred torrents pour, + Like storm-clouds rushing through the vault of heaven, + As when the mighty main on shore is driven, + So wide, so loud, so dark, so fierce the strain + When met the angry chiefs on Lena's plain. + The king rushed forward with resistless might, + Dreadful as Trenmor's awe-inspiring sprite, + When on the fitful blast he comes again + To Morven, his forefather's loved domain. + Loud in the gale the mountain oaks shall roar, + The mountain rocks shall fall his face before, + As by the lightning's gleam his form is spied + Stalking from hill to hill with giant stride. + More terrible in fight my father seemed + When in his hand of might his weapon gleamed, + On his own youth the king with gladness thought + When in the furious highland wars he fought.--_Fingal B. III._ + +The notion that Ossian drew in part, at least from real life, is +favoured by the wonderful calmness and absence of effort evinced in +delineating so great a character. Expressions that go far to heighten +our admiration of Fingal are employed in a quiet matter of course way. +"The silence of the king is terrible," is an expressive sentence. Or +this again, "The heroes ... looked in silence on each other marking the +eyes of Fingal." + +Nor are the gentler feelings less fully brought out in Ossian's +favourite character. Nothing could speak more for his affability than +the attachment shown by his followers. "Fear, like a vapour winds not +among the host! for he, the king, is near; the strength of streamy +Selma. Gladness brightens the hero. We hear his words with joy."[A] + +Gallantry and philanthropy we might expect to find in his composition, +but the tenderness he frequently displays strikes us as remarkable in an +uncivilized chief. His lamentation over the British city on the Clyde is +as pathetic as any similar passage in our language. + +Another surprising trait is the generosity he invariably displays to his +vanquished foes. All the more surprising is it that a "savage" should +show magnanimity when the heroes of civilized Greece, Rome, and Judea, +counted it virtuous to torture their captured enemies. "None ever went +sad from Fingal," he says himself. Over and over he is represented as +lamenting the death of enemies when they fall, or granting them freedom +and his friendship when they yield--"Come to my hill of feasts," he says +to his wounded opponent Cathmor, "the mighty fail at times. No fire am I +to lowlaid foes. I rejoice not over the fall of the brave." + +A notable fact about Fingal is, that though he lived in times of war, in +disposition he was a man of peace. "Fingal delights not in battle though +his arm is strong." "When will Fingal cease to fight?" he complains, "I +was born in the midst of battles, and my steps must move in blood to the +tomb." Under the influence of this desire for peace he formally gave up +his arms to Ossian-- + + My son, around me roll my byegone years, + They come and whisper in the monarch's ears. + "Why does not grey-haired Fingal rest?" they say + "Why does he not within his fortress stay? + Dost thou in battle's gory wounds delight? + Lovest thou the tears of vanquished men of might?" + Ye hoary years! I will in quiet lie, + Nor profit nor delight in blood have I. + Like blustering storms from wintry skies that roll, + Tears waste with grief and dreariness the soul. + But when I stretch myself to rest, I hear + The voice of war come thundering on my ear + Within the royal hall, with loud command, + To rouse and draw again th' unwilling brand.--_Tem. B. VIII._ + +Limited as were the means of communication in those pre-telegraphic +times the fame of such a man must have spread. Accordingly, we read of +his name being known and respected far and near. Foreign princes speak +of him with admiration, and refugees from distant lands seek his +protection. + +But it is on the power of his name in after times that we wish more +particularly to dwell. There have been no people who honoured their +heroes so much as the Celts. With them _valour_ and _value_ were +synonymous terms. Theirs was not a nobility of money, or literature, or +aesthetics, or even of territory. Nobleness should be the qualification +of a nobleman, and strange as it may seem, it was among the uncivilised +Celts of Ireland and Scotland that such a character was properly +appreciated. But they held nobleness and heroism to be identical. They +seem to have thoroughly believed that cowardice was but the result of +vice. A fearless man, they felt, must be a true man, and he was honoured +accordingly. _Flath-innis_, the _Isle of the Noble_, was their only name +for heaven. _Allail_ or _divine_ they applied to their heroic men. To +imitate such was the old Celtic religion as it was the primitive +religion of most other peoples. + +Among all the heroes whom the ancient Gael worshipped there was no name +so influential as Fingal's. Through the ages he has been the idol and +ideal of the Celt. His example was their rule of justice. His maxims +were cited much as we would quote Scripture. To the youth he was held up +as the model after which their lives should be patterned, and where +Christianity had not yet eradicated the old creed, a _post mortem_ +dwelling with him in _Flath-innis_ was deemed no mean incentive to +goodness. He was, in fact, the god of the Gaelic people, worshipped with +no outward altar, but enshrined in the hearts of his admirers. How far +the more admirable traits of Highland character may be attributed to the +assimilating influence of the idea of Fingal we cannot decide. That our +character as a people has been largely influenced for good by the power +of his example we have no doubt. The bards, an order of the old Druidic +hierarchy, became the priests of the Fingalian hero-worship. Songs, +elegies, and poetic legends formed their service of praise. To induce +their countrymen to reverence and imitate so great and glorious a Gael +as Fingal was the object of many of their bardic homilies. Taking into +account the nature and circumstances of the ancient Caledonians, we must +conclude that from position and influence none were more suitable to +become their ethical and aesthetical advisers than these minstrel +ministers of the Fingalian hero-olatry. + +Of course such a faith could not long withstand the more generous and +cosmopolitan spirit of Christianity, yet we venture to assert that it +was vastly preferable in its effects to some abortions of our common +creed. That there was a conflict between the two religions we know. As +late as the sixteenth century a Christian ecclesiastic complains that +the leaders of Gaelic thought of the period were heathen enough to +delight in "stories about the Tuath de Dhanond and about the sons of +Milesius, and about the heroes and _Fionn_ (Fingal), the son of Cumhail +with his Fingalians ... rather than to write and to compose and to +support the faithful words of God and the perfect way of truth." + +Down to the present day the name of _Fionn_ is reverenced by the less +sophisticated Highlanders and Islanders. That his name will in future be +more extensively, if less intensely, respected we may confidently +predict. As men's views become more broad and just, and their feelings +become more cultivated and refined, we may hope that a superior +character such as Fingal will by-and-bye be appreciated. Even now he is +widely admired and we begin to read in the signs of the times the +fulfilment of his own words:-- + + When then art crumbled into dust, O! stone; + Lost in the moss of years around thee grown; + My fame, which chiefs and heroes love to praise, + Shall shine a beam of light to future days, + Because I went in steel and faced th' alarms + Of war, to help and save the weak in arms.--_Tem. B. VIII._ + + MINNIE LITTLEJOHN. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote A: The quotations in prose are from Macpherson's translation.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Celtic Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 3, +January 1876, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CELTIC MAGAZINE, JANUARY 1876 *** + +***** This file should be named 29969.txt or 29969.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/9/6/29969/ + +Produced by Tamise Totterdell and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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